Various proposals have been made for the inspection apparatus illumination assemblies. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,346, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, there is described an inspection apparatus illumination assembly wherein a light source provided by a halogen lamp is turned on at video frequencies and the duration of actuation is controlled in relation to the illumination picked up by an image sensor. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,166, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, an inspection apparatus is provided with an auxiliary light box. An inspection tube of the inspection apparatus can be interfaced to the auxiliary light box. Sequential primary color illumination is generated in the auxiliary light box and supplied to a fiber optic bundle in the insertion tube.